RAVITCH: Michelle Rhee’s Plan to Destroy Public Education--buy conservative Dems

[yurbud]

Eventually, Democrats have to get a handle on this shit. The only conversation any Democrat should have with Rhee should be in front of a congressional committee, investigating who is funding her "reform" efforts and what they have gained and stand to gain in the future in return.

Conservative Democrats are desperately trying to keep the GOP viable so they have an excuse to agree with them on money making issues like this.

If they're not careful, when the GOP finishes dying, they will find themselves in the new minority party with actual Democratic voters either leaving them to form a new party or spitting them out of the existing one.

That this education "reform" agenda has any Democratic Party support shows how "bipartisan" and "corrupt" are almost interchangeable.

Michelle Rhee is is a one-person PAC. She is raising hundreds of millions of dollars from rightwing billionaires and foundations and corporations to subsidize her program.

What is her program? Destroy teachers' unions; eliminate tenure and seniority; privatize public education. Having failed to transform the public schools of the District of Columbia, she now wants to privatize public education everywhere.

When I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, I learned from a Democratic state senator that Rhee had poured $105,000 into a race between a liberal Democrat and a conservative Democrat. The difference between them? The conservative Democrat supports vouchers. My informant said, "Candidates here will jump through hoops for a contribution of $1,000. Getting $105,000 is unimaginable." Rhee bought the election. The voucher-loving Democrat won. He added: Most of Rhee's money goes to conservative Republicans.

http://wp.me/p2odLa-2kG

[bemildred]

1. The Pubbies have been after our public education system for 40 years now.

Last edited Tue Oct 2, 2012, 03:12 PM - Edit history (1)

And they have done great harm to it.

[yurbud]

2. starve it of funding which jacks up class size and narrow curriculum to test taking...

that's a recipe for the very failure they keep blaming teachers for.

[yurbud]

3. a simple way to tell what politicians love: who do they give money to and deregulate?

and conversely, anything they starve of funds and regulate to death, they hate.

And by hate, I mean they can't figure out how to get money in their own pockets from it.

[msongs]

4. race to the top nt

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Well put:

>>>That this education "reform" agenda has any Democratic Party support shows how "bipartisan" and "corrupt" are almost interchangeable.>>>

[yurbud]

6. When one party has a bad idea, it might just be a bad idea. When both parties have the same bad

idea, they are paid to have it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. There you go again,'bud.

You're on a roll. Nothing I envy/admire more than the ability to effectively convey complex ( and valid) analysis in a handful of carefully chosen words.

Good thing you're on "my side".... or I might have to hate your guts.

[yurbud]

8. that is high praise.

[yurbud]

9. .

[midnight]

10. I appreciate the discussion that all this money being raised to replace public education and hand it

over to private companies to harvest our tax dollars while providing low quality education via manufactured test results needs a bigger flash light on it... thanks.

[yurbud]

11. that's a good summary of what's going on.